A major fire in Glasgow city centre has highlighted the complex risks insurers face when historic buildings sit within dense urban environments.
The blaze, which damaged a historic property near Glasgow Central Station, has renewed focus on how heritage structures, particularly those containing multiple occupancies, can present elevated fire exposure, costly restoration requirements and potential liability complications.
Insurance specialists say many historic city-centre buildings were constructed in terraces or blocks where properties share structural elements such as walls, roof voids and internal cavities. In older properties this can allow fires to spread more quickly than in modern buildings designed with contemporary compartmentation and fire-stopping measures.
According to Rehan Haque, technical lead – property & commercial claims at Verlingue, the physical design of heritage buildings often creates a more complex risk environment for insurers.
“City-centre heritage buildings often bring elevated challenges,” he said. “Many are built in terraces or blocks where properties are physically connected, so fire can spread quickly through shared roof voids, timber frames or poorly compartmentalised areas.”
Andrew Henner, head of technical claims at Ecclesiastical Insurance, said older construction methods can increase fire exposure. “Features such as timber frames, wood panelling and hidden voids can increase fire loading, and the lack of modern fire breaks in roof spaces means fires can spread much more rapidly than in modern construction.”
The risk profile can become even more complicated where buildings combine several types of occupancy. Mixed-use properties are common in older city centres, where retail units, hospitality venues and residential accommodation often sit within the same structure.
Henner said dense city-centre locations can also complicate emergency response. “These properties are often tightly surrounded by other buildings, pedestrianised areas or busy commercial zones, which can significantly restrict access for fire crews and contractors.”
When fires affect historic buildings, the rebuilding process can be significantly more complex than restoring modern structures. Listed properties are typically subject to conservation and planning requirements that dictate the materials and construction methods used during restoration.
Haque said these requirements can shape the entire rebuilding process. “Restoration of listed buildings must typically follow strict conservation and planning requirements, which can affect materials used, construction methods and the professionals involved.”
Those constraints can slow reconstruction and increase costs, particularly where specialist trades are required to replicate historic building techniques. “Sourcing traditional materials or specialist craftsmen can introduce delays and significant cost.”
The structure of older buildings can also make it more difficult to assess the full extent of damage following a fire.
“Hidden voids, undocumented alterations and layered historical construction can also complicate damage assessment,” Haque said. “In addition, records and building plans may be incomplete, requiring more intrusive investigation before reinstatement can begin.”
Henner said the listed building process can introduce further complexity. “Restoration often involves additional stakeholders such as conservation officers and amenity societies, which can extend project timelines depending on the extent of the damage,” he said.
Major fires affecting older commercial buildings can also highlight the importance of accurate reinstatement valuations, particularly where heritage features are involved.
Simon Thomas, of Protect Commercial Insurance, said the cost of rebuilding listed properties can be significantly higher than that of modern buildings because restoration often requires specialist skills and materials.
“For listed buildings there's probably an uplift of 30% to 40% in terms of the value, because inevitably there's different crafts that need to be used to get there. You can't get away with just throwing up a brick building,” he said.
The Glasgow incident has also drawn attention to the role tenant occupancies can play in mixed-use buildings. Reports have suggested the fire may have originated in a vape shop located within the property.
Thomas said certain retail occupancies were already considered difficult risks for insurers, and incidents like this may further affect underwriting appetite. “Vape shops were hard to insure before this. I think they're going to be very difficult and very expensive to insure now,” he said.
Where fires originate within commercial premises, liability exposure can extend beyond the unit itself, particularly in connected buildings where damage spreads to neighbouring properties.
As Thomas noted, in connected buildings the scale of losses can escalate quickly as damage spreads beyond the originating unit. “If it has come from there, there's potentially public liability claims,” he said.
Despite the challenges associated with historic buildings, insurers say many risks can be reduced through proactive building management and early coordination between property owners, insurers and heritage authorities.
Jo Whyman, risk management director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, said mitigation should begin with understanding how buildings are used. “The first step is to understand what activities take place in the building, assess the risks and ensure appropriate supervision,” he said. She added that a fire strategy combining both active and passive protection measures is also critical.
Managing those exposures often requires coordination between several stakeholders. As Haque noted, “Collaboration between conservation officers, insurers and property managers early in the process can allow risk improvements while remaining sensitive to the building’s protected status.”
Incidents such as the Glasgow fire highlight how historic buildings can present a very different risk profile from modern commercial properties, particularly where heritage structures sit within tightly built city centres and house multiple occupancies.
